1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a short chain-like ferrule structure (having ferrules), a chain-like ferrule structure (having ferrules), and a method of producing the chain-like ferrule structure, the ferrules being adapted to be attached to end portions of optical fiber cables.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ferrules are mounted on end portions of optical fiber cables by the use of an assembling machine, and in this case an additional facility is required for supplying separate ferrules to the assembling machine, and therefore the cost has tended to increase. in order to reduce the cost and also to efficiently supply the ferrules, it has been desired to connect the ferrules into a chain-like form.
To solve these problems, various chain-like ferrule structures have been used (see, for example, Patent Literature 1). Such a chain-like ferrule structure comprises a plurality of ferrules, and an interconnecting portion interconnecting the ferrules. In the production of the chain-like ferrule structure, first, a short chain-like ferrule structure of an integral construction comprising a plurality of ferrules and an interconnecting portion interconnecting the ferrules is molded. Then, a second short chain-like ferrule structure is integrally molded to be connected to the first integrally-molded short chain-like ferrule structure. Then, a third short chain-like ferrule structure is integrally molded to be connected to the first and second short chain-like ferrule structures joined together. In this manners this process is repeated as a sequence of steps, thereby producing the chain-like ferrule structure of an integrally molded construction forming a long chain of ferrules.
Patent Literature 1: JP-A-2001-350054 Publication
The chain-like ferrule structure disclosed in the above Patent Literature 1 and others forms the long chain, and therefore the handling of this chain-like ferrule structure in a product checking process or others was cumbersome. And besides, when a defective product was found, the whole of the defective chain-like ferrule structure must be discarded.